When Courage Fails
by eugene-the-artichoke
Summary: Mustering up the courage to say what is necessary isn't always easy, and words unsaid remain just that…unsaid.
1. Years of Practice

A/N: Hello! The original idea for this fic was to leave it as a sort of unfinished one-shot. However, I thought about it for a bit and decided to dedicate one chapter to each of the couples in the Potterverse.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JKR does. The only thing that's mine is the various awkward moments I write.

**When Courage Fails****_: Years of Practice_**

_By: eugene-the-artichoke_

_----- _

_The boy and the girl sit side by side on the snow covered bench. The boy's ginger hair is poking out from his maroon hat. The girl's hair is sprinkled with bits of snow._

_He looks at her when he thinks she isn't looking._

_She is._

_He quickly turns away and pretends to be interested in his tatty orange gloves. He's really thinking about how wonderful she is._

_She sneaks a glance at him when she thinks he doesn't notice._

_He does. _

_She quickly looks away, feeling scared and anxious and mortified all at once. He makes her heart flutter painfully._

_She feels watched. She looks up to see him gazing at her. He blushes red and she does too, both embarrassed for different reasons. She opens her mouth to say something, but he cuts her off._

"Hermione?"

"Yes?"

"I –"

"What?"

"I – _silence _–You've got snow on your eyelashes."

"Oh, alright. Thanks."

"No problem."

_She dusts the snow off, and he watches. He is mesmerized by the small action as well as disheartened._

_She is enchanting and he can never be._

_He lowers his head and stares at his old, beat up trainers._

_Meanwhile, she is hoping against hope that she will have the courage and he will have the courage._

_She needs the courage._

"Ron?"

_He slowly lifts his head and she is struck by how unusually graceful he is._

_He is natural and she can never be._

"Yeah?"

_She hesitates._

"Is that what you really had to tell me? That I had snow on my eyelashes?"

_He doesn't answer. He doesn't know how._

_Silence. _

_Then a few minutes later, he says it._

"No."

_She questions him no further and he is grateful. They know they are words unsaid._

_For he knows it, and she knows it, but he won't say it and she won't say it._

_And words unsaid remain just that…unsaid._

_-----_

A/N: If there are any couples you would like to see in the futures (that don't contradict already established canon couples), please feel free to drop a review and let me know!

Questions, comments, suggestions? Review...


	2. The Pain of Sacrifice

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, JKR does.

A/N: This scene is placed at the ever-popular setting of Bill and Fleur's wedding and is post-HBP.

**When Courage Fails: _The Pain of Sacrifice_**

_By: eugene-the-artichoke_

_-----_

_He had followed her out here, watching as she left the celebrations taking place that day. No one had noticed._

_Except for him, that was._

_She sat near the pond in the farthest part of the Weasley's land, red hair shaken loose from its previous style. Her delicate golden robes were bunched up and settled around her, revealing a small portion of freckled, white skin .Strappy, shimmering sandals were placed next to her reclining body, and both her hair and shoes continued to catch the midday light at different angles._

_He swallowed the painful lump in his throat._

_She picked up what looked like a small, smooth pebble and whirled it at the water. It skipped a few feet, before sinking into the glassy water. She looked blankly at the newly formed ripples, when all of a sudden he heard a soft cry of despair. He looked on in heartbreaking pain as tears began streaming down her porcelain skin. Her hands reached up and covered her face, and soon she was sobbing uncontrollably. _

_He was startled when he felt wetness on his face. He knew as well as she did that he was the cause of her crying. He was in agony knowing that there was nothing that he could do, despite her arguments to the contrary._

_Looking at her trembling form again, he felt a sudden urge to go to her. Running a shaking hand through messy black hair, he glanced at the far end of the yard to see if there was anyone in sight. Nobody was._

_Thoughts began frantically running through his mind. Should he go over there? What would he say if he did? What would SHE say? Did she want to speak with him?_

_Questions continued to form in his mind, when he felt his feet begin to move of their own violation. Unable to stop walking, he resigned himself to an awkward and painful conversation._

_Just as he was about to come into her line of vision, he heard someone yell "_Ginny!_" across the lawn. Not being able to retreat fast enough, he saw her hastily dry her eyes, before getting up gracefully. _

_Without turning around, she hollered "_Coming, George!_", and he wondered how she knew which of her brothers it was. Unfortunately, he didn't get much time to ponder this fact, when with a gasp, brown eyes locked with green._

He choked when he saw the emotion in her eyes, and his own emotion threatened to overwhelm him. 

_She blinked first, and without a backward glance, she hurried toward her waiting brother.Once he was certain they were out of sight, he gave a strangled moan, and plopped down on the grass._

_He should have known better than to come. The break-up had been too fast, too rushed. There was so much that was still to be voiced between them, and it seemed that it would have to wait for yet another time. Time that he wasn't so sure they had._

_He sighed._

_-----_

A/N:Questions, comments, suggestions? Review...


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